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Community Forest Monitoring

Leveraging mobile technology to build capacity and protect forests

Local communities are the stewards of their environment and their participation is essential to mapping and monitoring the natural resources on their village lands. The Jane Goodall Institute's (JGI) community-based conservation approach is designed to empower local stewards in ways that benefit communities, as well as the environment that surrounds them. JGI has become a pioneer and leader in this emerging field as a result of our rapid adoption of new technologies to support community forest monitoring.

Thanks to technology, these efforts enable real-time tracking of impacts on the environment, opening opportunities for responses and interventions to threats and changes in the landscape. Local forest monitors are outfitted with GPS-enabled smart phones. As they monitor forests, their observations are captured through these phones thanks to Google Research’s Open Data Kit. The data is then aggregated and can be observed in real time and tracked by scientists around the globe. The possibility of community action in response to situations on the ground provides a critical new tool in advancing conservation in these important and environmentally sensitive areas.